Blastoff! The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule, lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a second resupply mission to the International Space Station. However, it developed thruster problems soon after the capsule was released

The Dragon spacecraft inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral before launch

WHAT'S ON BOARD

More than 1 ton of space station supplies is aboard the Dragon.

SpaceX tucked fresh fruit into the
Dragon for the station residents; the apples and other treats are
straight from the orchard of an employee's family.

Also on board are 640 seeds of a
flowering weed used for research, mouse stems cells, protein crystals,
astronaut meals and clothing, trash bags, air-purifying devices,
computer parts and other gear.

He says flight controllers are trying to override the system and fix the problem.

Musk is monitoring the flight from SpaceX Mission Control in California.

More than 1 ton of space station supplies is aboard the Dragon.

It is part of a billion-dollar contract with NASA that could lead to astronaut rides in just a few years.

Launch controllers initially applauded and gave high-fives to one another, once the spacecraft safely reached orbit.

The successful separation of the Dragon from the rocket was broadcast live on NASA TV; on-board cameras provided the unique views nine minutes into the flight.

The space station and its six-man crew were orbiting 250 miles above the Atlantic, just off the New England coast, when the Falcon soared.

The Dragon spacecraft is due to arrive Saturday morning after an unusually short chase; astronauts will use a hefty robot arm to draw the Dragon in and dock it to the station.

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SpaceX tucked fresh fruit into the Dragon for the station residents; the apples and other treats are straight from the orchard of an employee's family.

Elon Musk revealed the problems on twitter

Also on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stems cells, protein crystals, astronaut meals and clothing, trash bags, air-purifying devices, computer parts and other gear.

SpaceX - formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp. - has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for space station shipments. Its founder, Elon Musk, monitored the launch from the company's Mission Control and home office in Hawthorne.

Falcon 9 and Dragon rolling out from the hangar earlier this week for the SpaceX CRS-2 launch

NASA's deputy administrator, Lori Garver, said using commercial providers is more efficient for the space agency.

It's part of a long-term program, she noted, that has NASA spending less money on low-Earth orbit and investing more in deep-space missions.

That's one reason why the space shuttles were retired in 2011 after the station was completed.

The goal is to have SpaceX and other private firms take over the job of ferrying astronauts to and from the space station in the next few years.

SpaceX - so far the leader of the pack - is aiming for a manned Dragon flight by 2015.

This is the second in a planned series of 12 SpaceX deliveries under the contract with NASA; the first was last October.

A company-sponsored demo mission kicked everything off last May.

This Dragon will spend more than three weeks at the space station before being cut loose by the crew on March 25.

It will parachute into the Pacific with more than a ton of medical samples, plant and cell specimens, Japanese fish and old machinery, and used spacewalking gloves and other items.

SpaceX plans to launch its next Dragon to the station in late fall.

More than 2,000 guests jammed the Cape Canaveral launch site Friday morning to watch the Falcon take flight.

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SpaceX private mission to the International Space Station plunged into doubt as Dragon craft develops thruster problems